


Return to the Dark Universe

by webhead3019



Series: The Mummy’s Return [1]
Category: The Mummy (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-20 09:04:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16552892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/webhead3019/pseuds/webhead3019
Summary: A dangerously cunning cult leader hatches a plan to break into a government facility and resurrect a captive mummy. This mysterious man is more meticulous in his planning than he lets on and little do his followers know, his true agenda is actually dualistic in nature. It’s a 2-person party and everyone else is uninvited.





	1. RECAP & PRELUDE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story so far and the story to come.

Not long ago, the 5,000 year old Egyptian princess Ahmanet was brought once more into the world. As a testament to her living damnation, she nearly cursed the world herself, but she was stopped by her own vessel Nick Morton. This vessel of Set would have brought about the end of days upon giving himself over to the rightful queen, but Set was a heart not so easily won.

And so, Ahmanet was slain once more and imprisoned in a mercury-filled grave deep within a hidden paranormal research facility, should she ever reawaken to terrorize the world once more. Many years have past and Ahmanet’s wrath remains subdued. The head of operations Henry Jekyll intends to bury the hatchet once and for all by excavating what he can out of Ahmanet’s body while she’s under before eradicating her altogether.

Although, Jekyll’s decision could not have been more conveniently timed, as an armed legion of apostolates and sympathizers inspired by Ahmanet’s brief period of ruthlessness, intends to breach the facility. Their mission is to retrieve her corpse and reanimate Ahmanet from the dead, no matter the costs. Ahmanet still requires a vessel, but this time things will go unorthodoxically in her favor this time around, as a particularly unholy rogue lusts for the undead princess in more ways than the given or apparent.

“How far will you go for the one you worship?”


	2. THE FALL & THE RISE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world is on the brink of collapse. All it takes is one with the will to bring about it all, not to mention a little help from the grave. Just a fair warning, this is not the PG-13 version XD

“This is what we came here to do. The Rising Suns of Set will insure on this day that the dark star of days forgotten to all parties except our own, will rise once more. It’s almost time... The reckoning and fall of the old world is within our grasp.”

The wall collapsed with a deafening boom. Despite there not being a clearing in the smoke yet, a hail of gunfire rang off in either direction. While everyone else fanned out, I maintained a steady course as the center of a 3 by 3 phalanx formation. We had no shields, but we were spaced just evenly enough to sidestep or become a controlled line of fire.

The middle charge directly in front of me had his shoulder grazed his shoulder by a 9 MM discharge, yet he shrugged it off like it was nothing. The foot soldier resumed volleying his bullets, taking down his assailant with several impromptu headshots, scattering his brains to the wind. We were nearing the control station that would release Ahmanet from her perpetual drowning abyss.

Still, we were not a perfect team. Not everyone could have the same resolve after all, and most if not all of my men were expendable, as proven by the 2 rightmost men in the row next to me and behind when they decided to get reckless. They were torn to bits without a second’s thought. We were almost evenly gunned, but I would have to make due with what I had, even if the odds seemed against me. I have... no. She has waited long enough.

We were close, but the gunfire was beginning to overtake us. The man in front of me who had gotten his shoulder nicked wasn’t so lucky the second time around. All it took was one casually placed bullet to tear through the man’s jugular like blowing tissue. The man gasped as he tried to seal off his gushing neck wound with his gun hand. It was too late as a crucial strike like that could sink ships in seconds.

I pushed him to the ground rather than wait for his arrogant ass to topple naturally. It created an opening, but I had no time for second thoughts or hesitation. Now wasn’t really much of a time at all with everything considered. We didn’t stop for anything, but the pace was nevertheless slowed. As we push onward, I can’t help but think of Ahmanet’s current living conditions.

She was not kept in a sarcophagus, but rather she was locked away in a mere vault like some contained virus. That was not a place for a queen and I plan on making certain the team responsible to reap the consequences for this transgression in the worst possible way. That was when she came to me, invading my mind like some parasite, although she couldn’t have asked for a better host if she bothered to ask in the first place, ever the dominant one.

I was overtaken against my will and sent backwards in time by a few millennia. I had been transported to a vast, obviously Egyptian desert that seemed to go on for a hundred miles. That was when she appeared on the horizon, simmering into view like a mirage. It was too good to be true, but I had not myself gone mad. She was simply in my head. She had on a white gown whipping around in the wind. It accentuated a slender but alluring figure that seemed to loom outwards metaphysically.

That was when I realized I wasn’t looking at Ahmanet at all. It was just her gown holding position on the horizon as if covering an invisible specter. I could somehow see her very human amber eyes with the turquoise streak eyeliner piercing into the back of my head as real as day, even though I had no idea what she could have possibly looked like before her reincarnation as a mummy. They were strikingly longing eyes but I’d be a fool to think they’d be wasted on me.

That was when I felt Ahmanet breathing hotly on my neck, a bare thigh pressing firmly against the back of my own. I could tell she was completely nude as the bodiless gown I had been staring at blew away after getting struck by an almost supernatural gust of wind. An elongated tongue lathered against the side of my cheek, but I was not granted permission to look behind me. Ahmanet beckoned seductively, “Come to me. Free my from my slumber, servant.”

She pressed deeper into me and her arms wrapped around my waist. They were sun-tanned and beautiful unlike anything I had ever seen. Her elongated nails were as turquoise as the invisible eyeliner that was still somehow as clear as day. She leaned in closer to my ear and chanted once more in a whispery but imposing voice, “Come to me.” She swiped her hand like a veil over my eyes and I was awoken from the reality-altering spell. I had somehow been transported directly in front of the lever.

I was completely unscathed by the crossfire, but the rest of my team must have got lost in the shuffle. She had completely piloted me while I was trapped in a subconscious state. Perhaps invasive was an understatement. I didn’t even realize it was possible for Ahmanet to establish a deep soul link to someone other than the chosen vessel while in hibernation. Deep down I knew she was playing me, but I had a great hand myself, hidden well up the confines of my sleeve.

I had plotted this encounter for what seemed like the entirety of her damnation. She was my obsession and there was at least 100 ways this could go wrong. I pulled the lever and the mercury began to filter out into the drainage below. The shriveled up, mummified carcass of a woman, slowly materialized into view over the receding surface. She was crunched into a fetal position, and was completely naked save for a few tatters of bandage still doing their best to caress her extremities.

She was somehow a zombie in comparison to the woman in my vision as she looked extremely malnourished. Yet still, she caught my eye. While she wasn’t much to look at in the almost transparent form she was in now, there was something about the very core essence of her that magnetized me to her being. It wouldn’t take as long to replenish her back to full health as the decade or so in between her last conquest was a much shorter waiting period than the eons long gap before it. I fathomed the countless unsuspecting assailants on all sides would be enough to restore her a good bit of youth.

My name is Desmond Luc Descartes. I have successfully coordinated an attack on Prodigium and in the process, released Ahmanet from her tomb. The reacquisition and rise of the Dark Universe begins now.


	3. AHMANET REAWAKENS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahmanet returns with a vengeance unlike ever before. The walls of Prodigium are about to get decorated in buckets of blood and sand, indiscriminately killing the masses... And it’s all still going according to plan!

Soon Ahmanet will awaken and when she does, she will reclaim the world. I will see to that, even if I’m the only one still standing in this room in the next 5 minutes give or take.

Even with all the security measures and modifications that made up Prodigium, I was perhaps the most prepared for this day. It’s as though I was the only one with a heart and soul in what I do, even though the question regarding the sanctity of my soul is up for grabs. As a set precaution for Ahmanet’s possible reawakening, sleeping gas began to pour out of the sprinkler systems. It was already too late.

A screen of steam billowed over Ahmanet, blocking her from sight. Even though I hadn’t sensed any movement from her, I knew the queen was already up and I can full-heartedly confirm this for what’s about to happen next. A perhaps one hundred strong flock of rows burst through each and every window and there were enough windows to suction the gas back out, that was for damn sure. The birds of death turned their attention on all of the occupants inside, both my men and Jekyll’s alike.

Everyone hollered in pain or outright terror and ran around in a frenzy, all with the exception of me. I had expected all of this, but I had a ticket out of here nevertheless. The crows clawed and pecked, turning at least a dozen people’s skin to ribbons and clawing out eyes. I watched as a man got telekinetically sucked into the blinding cloud of gas concealing Ahmanet, who was now clearly on the move.

The man screamed and the clouds became wet and red with gore. The man’s body was flung back from the direction it had been pulled from, only his body went flailing about 10 meters forward, smacking into the wall with a loud thump. More and more men were being pulled into the smoke, before being flung back out. Only the 6 that followed weren’t so much rendered bloody as they were transformed into hollowed out husks, completely drained of life. The soul-sucking process was finally underway. Before long Ahmanet will be strong again. All she needed now was to suck enough souls and for me to stay the hell out of her way.

Ahmanet leaped out from the smoke and landed on all fours in crouch position like a wild animal. Ahmanet raised her hand and all the glass debris from the busted out windows were collectively clustered and levitated above her. She pushed forward with all her might and shredded 2 men to nothingness with innumerable shards of glass. Ahmanet lifted another man up by the chin and turned his insides to sand.

Sand billowed out of all his orifices and his head expanded and peeled apart from the crushing weight of sand flooding his skull. Blood and sand poured out gratuitously. A man shot Ahmanet from behind, blowing a chunk out of her shoulder. She winced in quiet agony and forged a sand stalactite out her back, before firing it out like a projectile. The spike impaled the man through the ribcage and flung him backwards due to the added friction and velocity. The man stuck to the wall about 4 meters back and deeply too, likened to a throwing knife on a dart board.

Ahmanet uplifted off the ground telekinetically and turned to face the man. She grabbed the spike and wrenched downwards, breaking several ribs in half on the way down. The man howled at the moon and she pulled out. The man coughed up blood and she tossed the spike to the side, this action in turn crushing another recently zombified man’s head who was in the process of gathering himself off the ground.

The man pinned to the wall coughed up more blood, “What the fuck are you?” Ahmanet responded, “I am a living goddess and I was to be the rightful ruler of his world, but I really wish you humans would stop treating me as but. It’s distracting.” Ahmanet presses her open palm against the gap in his chest. Ahmanet breathed in and spread the talon-like fingers as she crammed her hand into the man’s chest. She popped the man’s heart like a helium balloon while inside with a single stroke. The man let out one final howl before his eyes rolled white.

One of the remaining cult members lunged for me and shouted pleadingly, “Please! Save me!” I inquired, “For the queen?” The man shot back, “For the queen!” I replied cynically, “In order to service the queen, you must prove you are willing to die for the queen. You are clearly not willing to die for her, which is precisely why you’re going to die now to save her the trouble. Don’t worry. Since you’re in a hurry, I’ll make it relatively painless.”

I took a sacrificial dagger out from the slip of my leg strap and jammed it up his chin. The blade passed through bone and almost punched for the roof of his mouth. Blood poured out the opening copiously like wet towels hanging out to dry. I suctioned the blade out and yanked the softened part of his chin upwards using my free hand, fatally snapping his jawline horizontally. Ahmanet turned her attention to me, but not before 2 of the remaining men not outright incapacitated, got up to attack her.

Once they ran out, men on either side of her overturned their assault rifles and swung the butts of the guns at her like clubs. A born warrior, Ahmanet brought her arms up to block, catching both hits in time. While holding position, she pushed outwards with the brunt of her form arms to offset their balance. She swept an extended leg around, using the brunt force of her bare but super-powered heel around in an wide circle, knocking both men off their feet.

Ahmanet swung them up telekinetically before they could reorient themselves and smashed the two repeatedly together until they were conjoined. Ahmanet sucked at the narrow space in between the men’s jammed up faces. She took their souls in unison and the two men were merged together into a grotesque biheaded zombie. She telekinetically raised everyone who was still standing, exactly 30 total, and flung them upwards so fast that they essentially flattened upon impact and became the ceiling’s wall paint.

She was healing up nicely and she now had 5 undead servants minus the one she accidentally crushed, but plus one mutation. More and more she was looking right up my alley. Ahmanet approached me with imposing malice, “You are not my chosen vessel, yet you intentionally sought me out regardless. A valiant but foolish effort no less. You shake not in my presence despite the bloodshed I lay forth around you, so I assume it is you with the surprise... or did you simply come here to waste my time.”

Ahmanet pressed, “So? Any reason why I shouldn’t suck your soul out, servant?” I decided smugly, “You won’t wanna do that.” Curious, Ahmanet cocked her head and wondered, “And why is that, might I ask?” I explained, “Because I just gave you enough nourishment to hold your belly over for awhile. You didn’t think I’d let the driving passion of my life go unfed, did you?”

The Rising Suns of Set had been all but slain. I wasn’t counting losses though. In fact, I didn’t have real claim to any losses at all if I’m to be perfectly honest with myself. At the end of the day, all they really did was unconsciously serve me and everything was still going rather according to plan.


	4. THE PRICE OF DESIRE

Before Ahmanet could react, a man scurried to his feet, trying his damnedest to not slip across the literal puddle of bloody predicament he found himself at in the middle of, the only one left untouched by Ahmanet’s bloody wrath. The man ran the opposite direction. That was the smart thing to do, but the timing couldn’t have been any worse. The cowering man was temporary distraction, but it was not one Ahmanet wasn’t going to let go unchecked, especially after a long overdue blood warranty.

Despite his being a great length away from us, Ahmanet casually raised the man off his feet, but almost completely disregarded him as her eyes were almost completely fixated on me and her mind on what I’ve come to bargain. As horrible as 10 year imprisonment could be, it was nothing compared to the one before it, and Ahmanet was already more powerful than before, and this was after feeding on a mere 8 men. The man’s neck was twisted around with a sickening snap and that was that.

Now that the room was cleared out, Ahmanet tonelessly followed up, “You... intentionally led everyone to their deaths? Just so you could have a face-to-face... with me?” I answered, “Of course. I only joined this cult and rose to the ranks so I could pursue you. None of the deluded fools knew you like I did and they sought power that was never theirs to begin with. Given the shallowness of their heart’s desire, it was easy to manipulate them in that way.”

I continued, “I could care less about who else died along the way, even if there was some false sense of companionship or devotion, just as I assumed you wouldn’t either. Honestly, if you didn’t kill every last one of them, I would have been surprised. It was one of my finer gambles, I’d say.” After inspired consideration, Ahmanet raised her eyebrows and questioned, “So you risked everything... by hedging your bets. You do realize those bets meant either life or death.”

I grinned smugly, “Exactement. Rather brilliant, wouldn’t you say?” Unimpressed, Ahmanet responded, “Mad rather. Only I’m the one who’s sanity has been deteriorating close to 5,000 years due largely in part to the mind-warping effects of mercury. You still haven’t given me a good enough answer, but I feel you still have much to say buried within. How true you are to your next response will dictate the method in which I dispose of you.”

I replied, “I see you’re mistaking me for your average follower-by-proxy. I could give a damn less about the greater bad. I could kill the whole world and it would all be in your name. I swore an indiscriminate allegiance to you and I have no unconscious pretenses about backing down when I made it this far.” Ahmanet backfired, “But you are a mere mortal, not the chosen vessel of Set. And even he abandoned me when time came for us to shine once more.”

Ahmanet expanded, “My own blood shunned me from my destiny and when push turned to shove, I was condemned. All for pursuit of what should have been mine all along, I was left to rot in a cell they created and my name erased for far too long a time. What makes you so sure you won’t do the same once you’ve had your fill of me?” I declared, “Because I’m the only believer who doesn’t require being tethered by a leash. I have no strings attached.”

I dropped to my knees and bowed in servitude. I pledged once more, “I have selflessly followed you to the ends of the earth. So far I have killed everyone who stands in our way without remorse, but my life is entirely in your hands and yours alone. I will not pressure you to make your final decision and I know all too well the consequences that come with failure. Even so, I assure you I will not fail you if given the chance to serve with my mind, body, and spirit intact.”

I could already tell Ahmanet had a renewed curiosity and I concluded, “Should you approve my request for invitation, I will prove to be a formidable asset, my queen.” Ahmanet came a bit closer without a noticeable change in pace. Ahmanet complied, “Very well. You can keep your soul if you haven’t sold it already. You’ve made it all too obvious it no longer belongs to you when it boils toward your one true motive.”

Ahmanet resolved, “You claim you won’t fail me and I expect no less, servant. I will not hesitate to strike you down, should you outlive your resourcefulness, but I’m choosing to place my faith in a position other than my own for the time being.” I kissed the toes of her pale white feet in accordance like a humbled dog and assured her, “With me by your side, you will feel the splendor that comes with basking in the sun once more. You have my word.”

It felt wrong. After all, I’d be a fool to think Ahmanet would choose me over Set, but the chalky taste of her stuck to me. I didn’t do it as a sign of subservience, even though I was a mere tool to someone as characteristically dominant as Ahmanet. I enjoyed kissing her feet, even if she was essentially a living corpse. I didn’t choose to serve her for the sole purpose of reuniting her with Set. Quite the opposite actually. I have a more than likely impossible dream and I can never reveal my real intentions to Ahmanet as the repercussions can offset the balance of everything I strived for. Even if I don’t succeed, I just wanted to see how close I can get to making my fantasy a reality before I die.

I had a forbidden love for her and I loved her long before she regained historical status and symbolage in the public eye. I’m not a vessel, but I’m the only person still alive nearest to Ahmanet’s age. I never got to officially meet her until today, but I’ve been seeking her out since the beginning.


	5. SANDS OF TIME

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been awhile since the last chapter, so here’s my longest chapter yet. A lot will be revealed here in 2 important flashbacks, but it barely brushes upon the overarching mystery.

Long before I was Desmond, I was simply Des. Everyone who knew me from a casual standpoint can choose to call me that regardless. After all Des is as much a name of old as it is a modern-day nickname.

I hailed from a nomadic tribe, hence the simplicity. All the individuals I grew up with only had one name and the singular names they did have were kept equally short. Since then, my name has changed many times over. This is the first time in a while I can use my birth name as a nickname. I had to keep my identity secret from all those around me if I were to make all I had achieved possible. Before you get too amped up, this isn’t about how I achieved my immortality. That would be too revealing.

This is the story of when I was at the transformative age of 19. Nevertheless it was a period just as crucial to me even in the coldest regions of my heart. I hailed from the barely charted land that would come to be known as France, hence my very modern sounding French name. I was never alone, not really. Before Ahmanet, an acquaintance of mine named Sin used to be one of oldest of friends.

We were raised together almost from birth, but unlike him I never knew my real parents. I’m sure my parents died before I was old enough to remember, but I don’t suppose it matters now. His name might have possibly been the precursor for Sinclair. I didn’t know as I didn’t stay in one place for long even though I had the longevity to do so. Had he lived as long as me perhaps I would have found out, but he of course died long before I.

He was the last real link to the life I lived before this one. I severed that link on this very day and established a new one. It wasn’t ritualistic in the slightest, I just had to let him go in the realization of the greater pursuit. Unlike the time I spent with Sin, I did not grow up knowing the force I now seek, but I must have been destined to find her all along. At this point in my life, I had already spent the last 5 years looking for the Egyptian princess.

All that time I managed to keep this pursuit a secret from Sin under the guise of expansive expeditions. Sin followed me for the entirety of the 5 years I knew about her, but he stopped following me perhaps because of it. She may have struck her first chord with me as early as 14, but I was reborn on this year and this day. Our language is a lost one and a bit too rough to recount, but I will decipher it as best as I can if ever there was a more modern speaker.

Sin looked at me and scoffed, “What do you look so down about?” I pointed at the illustrious walls recounting the life and times of the Gift of the Moon herself. That’s the Masri translation for Ahmanet. Even if she was but roughly 10 years my elder, I wasn’t one to cut down on research. I responded, “The woman you see in the hieroglyphics. She was almost mine. I pursued her after hearing tales of her, but I was too late as she became a different tale altogether.”

I continued, “It hasn’t been long, but this is the last known hieroglyphic of her. I’m starting a new expedition. Do you want to join?” Sin answered snidely, “If she’s a lost hieroglyphic, she’s dead and there’s probably a reason for that, Des. Nothing either of us can do about that.” I shot back, “I already know that she lives. She has found a way to transcend the mortal lifespan, only she is trapped in a place I cannot find her.”

Sin argued, “No, no. That’s crap, Des. You know it is.” I pursued simply, “But what if it isn’t? I now know that anything is possible. I can find a way to bring her back again, no matter how ghoulish and unheard of the alchemy.” Sin asked, “Oh yeah? How far do you intend on stretching this out? What all are you willing to do, Des?” I concluded cryptically, “Any and all things.”

Sin considered, “Well if she’s really undead, all you have to do is find out where she’s being kept and break her out. Good luck with that.” I smiled, “No. She has all the time in the world for me to find her, but your thinking too finitely. I plan on going a little farther than that.” Sin remarked, “Enough with the supernatural talk. You’ve really lost your marbles. I can’t let you do this to yourself even if it’s not true.”

The day I discovered the existence of the undead princess was the day I began disregarding lesser sentient life. Despite the accomplices I made, anyone who didn’t selflessly follow the Queen was no friend of mine. I sighed, “I thought you of all people would understand. How regrettable. I summarize after all these years flown by of our getting acquainted with one another, you were really just expendable to me.”

I unsheathed the dagger I found in one of our previous expeditions and took stance. Sin asked, “I thought you were my friend, Des. What happened?” Disregarding our now fractured relationship, I kept it short, “You put your faith in the wrong entity, Sin. You’re paying for that mistake with your life. I told you there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. This is the end for you.”

Sin shouted, “No wait! I stabbed him twice in the abdomen, spinning his stomach like spaghetti with each twist. He tried stopping me with his hand but I sliced a gash across his palm. I spun him around so his back was facing me and I drove the dagger into his hip. I twisted out and allowed him to gasp for the final time, before I crammed the dagger through the nape of his neck. The blade popped out the front of his throat. I twisted, and drew back out severing his breath and leaving him to bleed dry.

On that day forward, my soul became no longer my own and I would rise to become a master of the black arts. I had only brushed against the surface as I did not know what that all meant at the time. Still, I have no regrets. I stroked the image engraved in the ruins of Ahmanet sitting on a throne surrounded by countless dead bodies. I whispered dreamily, “One day, my queen.

FLASH TO LONDON 2017 . . .

Allow me to press flash forward to the day my plans began to finally bare fruition. I had accomplished quite a lot, but it was nothing compared to what I was about to accomplish on this day. It was the day Ahmanet turned to me from hieroglyphics to flesh.

I stared in marvel deep into and past my apartment’s television set. It had blanked out awhile back due to technological interference, but I was completely awestruck. Ahmanet had finally made due on her return. She had been all over the news, but I had a feeling there were no news crews left to capture the remainder of her spectacle. The small frame that had projected this godsend somehow managed to capture her transcendent sense of being.

It was the first time I ever saw her, even if she hadn’t seen me. She brought devastation to the good people of London and the very bad people of Prodigium, but a very renewed sense of purpose and belonging to me. She was everything I hoped for and more. I gasped, “My queen... You’ve come back to me.” I had a call to place. The time for action was finally underway. Even if I didn’t end up seeing it through for another 10 years, it was nothing compared to the wait preceding it.

I dialed up a number and it was picked up almost immediately. I spoke into the phone with just the right amount of charisma to hide my deceit, “Messenger birds have been delivering me curious tales about a hidden place. The one called Prodigium. I don’t know much, but I will soon. This might be our longest setback yet, though this won’t be like all the other times. Should we succeed in our mission, you’ll find the end result to be quite rewarding.”

I finished as I began, “Anyways I’m starting a new expedition. Would you care to join me?” And so it was done. Regardless of what you might think, I did not pursue Ahmanet simply out of love. What I had was something far beyond love and it was something I could only accomplish if I could also achieve a sense of immortality. At the end of the day, Ahmanet is a much more powerful and older entity than me, but because of my uncanny experiences and ideals, I may be the only one in the history of the world capable of making this dream a reality.


	6. LIVE OR DIE

I asked, “Don’t you want to kill that fucker Jekyll? I did my research. As I’m sure you know, he’s not like other humans. He’ll prove to be a major pain in our ass if we don’t find out where he is now.“ Ahmanet smiled, “That may be, but I have bigger fish to fry than a momentarily petty vendetta held against me by lesser men. I’m a queen and an intelligible beast like yourself knows for all times, there is a more grandiose scheme.” I bowed, “Of course, my queen.”

She was still loosely interrogating me, but she wasn’t keeping silent about it either. She respected me enough to tell me she was already reading my mind. Ahmanet paced around me, baiting me with her delicate figure as she had in the spirit plane. The bandages torn since her last awakening haven’t been mended up by the bastards at Prodigium, so a lot of her was there to see. That was one of the few things I didn’t think about despite millennia of planning.

She wasn’t a fool, but my devotion to Ahmanet is so beyond sex that I don’t think it’s a concept Ahmanet is yet familiar with, despite being older than me. She wasn’t ready to understand and certainly no one else was either. To me, there is only Ahmanet and I’m willing to die for it when the time is right. Only then can she know my deepest secret. As much as I wanted to tell her everything, I was too tough an egg to crack. She wasn’t the only one with powers.

At long last, but never too late, Ahmanet teased, “Interesting. You speak of humans harshly, as though you aren’t one yourself.” Ahmanet managed a silence so brief, as if its intent was to throw me out of turn before breaking, “Be it as it may, of all the things I know, you aren’t quite like any human I’ve come across. I want to say you’re not unlike me, but there’s something different there.”

I gave her that much, “I’m not a human. I’m something more now. I can’t fully explain it, but it would be petty for me to feel sentimental for anything lesser than your greatness. I truly don’t hate humans, I just gave up on them a long time ago.” Ahmanet concurred but warned, “As did I, and I hope that’s where our similarities end.” At this point, I think my obvious devotion was just music to her ears. I wasn’t going to make the fatal assumption she really valued me, but at the very least I had sparked her interest.

I told her what she expected to hear, “I wouldn’t dream of being greater than you. You are the only light to my darkness, so it’s just not feasible. Out of all the pacts I have made, the one I would never agree to is to outshine you. It would be against my very nature and if by some unforeseen anomaly I feel victim to such an undesirable trapping, I’d save you the honors. With the very blade resting at my hip, I would gut myself chin-to-belly.” I desribed morbidly, “It wouldn’t be slow, so as to properly and completely eviscerate myself, a final testament to my loyalty.”

Ahmanet was ever so slightly surprised before resting, “That’s a sacrificial blade not unlike the ones my ancestors used. For the sake of time, I won’t bother asking how you found it or kept it in such a condition. I’m sure you’re full of epic tales you’re just dying to tell me. Be a good boy and hold onto your tongue.” Ahmanet pointed out, “You used it recently. Too recently. You’re undeniably smart, but you’re bold too. If you had done the unholy deed in front of me rather than when my back was turned, my decision to let you live could have been made easier as well as quicker.”

Ahmanet said, “You’re playing a dangerous game for someone who has reason enough to live. If you were really foolish, I could perhaps mistake you for someone trying to protect my soul from getting any blacker than it already is, under the guise that it’s anything but black. Don’t get me wrong, that would be a flattering statement, but I have no time to mull over suicide cases. I trust you enough now to say I’m important to you even if it’s a misplaced, so why you’re doing this isn’t the question you want me to ask.”

Ahmanet wondered, “Do you really want to do my work so badly that you place so little value on your life?” I answered, “If ever there was a doubt, I don’t have a single qualm about what quos I have to fill to prove my devotion. Even if you aren’t aware of it. My life is in fact, important to a degree, so I would never take unnecessary risks that would surely jeopardize it. Still, I think my odds are at their best when I play everything naturally. To do everything so naturally is to be essential. To me, that’s true loyalty.”

With that, we were on the move again. As much as I valued speaking to her, killing alongside her was something especially special. There was undoubtedly more men awaiting us, but the hard part was over. It didn’t take long for them to reveal themselves too. They weren’t particularly quiet about it. I heard something get wrenched off the wall. It was time to show Ahmanet what I could really do. Three men including a man holding a fire extinguisher turned the corner.

They all jumped us in the least stealthy way, but the man with the extinguisher came first. Maybe I would have given him a cleaner death if his target wasn’t Ahmanet. Bah, who am I kidding? The deaths were never clean. I caught the extinguisher before it could make contact with Ahmanet’s face. I gave Ahmanet the slightest of glances before grinning wildly at the man, “The blatant disrespect. Were you really about to strike a goddess with an extinguisher?”

I laughed, “At least if you aimed for me, you might have given me a scar.” Unamused, Ahmanet rolled her eyes. Enough talk. Only my actions can impress her now. With the opening, I pulled out the ring pin and jammed the pole end through the man’s jugular. Keeping true to my spontaneity, I yanked it back not a half-second later. The sounds of hissing and gargling was almost as vivid as seeing the blood spurts accompanying it.

The other two turned their attention to me and sprayed the men with the fire extinguisher. I sidekicked one of the men in the face and threw him the fire extinguisher to catch. This caused the man to faint backwards. The back of the man’s head smashed into an opened fusebox panel. The man convulsed as he was electrocuted and his head burst into flames. I flipped the fire extinguisher on its side and whacked the man closest to me in the nose, reshaping the cartilage with a swift crack to the left.

The man stumbled back a good length, and he probably would have gone further if the wall behind him didn’t bring a premature end to his trajectory. Still poised with the lifesaving-tool-turned-lethal-weapon held vertically in my stern, I stormed the man like a bust officer with a battering ram. I was inches away from slamming the blunt end against the man’s Adam’s apple when the man managed to catch the side pointed farthest from me with both hands. I applied more pressure with my left arm as though it were two arms in one, so my right could exit its post without conflict.

I slapped my hand downward against my side of the extinguisher with the most overhand of motions. This seesawed up the opposite end that the man was holding, cracking him in the chin. The concentrated assault not only loosened his grip, but also the teeth he was so intensely gritting. I did as I did before. Despite my left being my least favorite arm, it still, even in the most heated of moments, possessed the ability to double in strength. And so it did once again, so my dominant hand made haste on its tireless escape.

It was muscle memory at this point, but it worked every time. Only this time was the last time, as the man was slouched against the wall, half paralyzed. He was yet another nameless victim that had pinned himself in my strategic placed trappings. As was the case with the countless unfortunate men that had came under my wrath in this all-too familiar moment, he was exactly where I needed him. It was so familiar it would have been tiresomely so, if it wasn’t for the sparkle of creativity I put into ever kill, which wasn’t a pattern in itself.

I carried the fire extinguisher down a good pace, before stopping right at his waist. I carried the fire extinguisher to its new home in the cradle of his gut, driving him deeper against the wall. With my right hand, I whipped out my pistol and pressed it against my side of the extinguisher. The man looked up with me and the expression was all in his eyes. He didn’t have to say a word. That look was also something I was used to, especially in my line of work.

Straight to the point, I lent a helping voice to his silent question, “Oh shit is right.” I squeezed the trigger and let go of the extinguisher to avoid the compressed air that blew out my end. The extinguisher shot forth like a missile, punching a crater through his gut that framed a fragment of his backside against the wall behind him. His body gave forward off the wall, but not before leaving behind a bloody imprint, a grim reminder as to his actual location-of-death.

The fire extinguisher still pushing against the weight of his midsection was pushed even further, when he landed on the ground. Still sailing on a gust of air, the fire extinguisher bursts out of his back and his intestines spilled out from under him. The skyrocketing extinguisher exploded against the ceiling and foam rained down over the scene. Ahmanet asked, “What the hell was that?” Deadpan as ever, I replied, “Years of training for the right moment... and maybe a little overthinking.”

Ahmanet said, “You could have just shot them in the head.” I sighed, “You’re probably right, but it’s the thought that counts.” I fired two more bullets through the wall we had not yet turned and two men with more ordinary weapons tumbled into view. I didn’t need to lift another finger, as I already pulled the trigger. Their skulls had cracks in them from the well-placed bullets that had met them through the other side of the wall, where black oxygenated blood and brain slush poured out.

Three more men piled in and I only made eye contact with Ahmanet as I fired 3 more bullets. One bullet per space between a man’s eye, and I didn’t have to look. Looking to Ahmanet gave me all the guidance I needed. I asked, “How is that?” Since I had Ahmanet to look forward to, killing had already become one of the easiest things in the world for me. It was considerably more easier than all the planning it took to get here. Still it paid well and saved my ass plenty. In that regard, she was with me all along, without even realizing it.


	7. LEGACY OF SIN

Doctor Henry Jekyll was not in hiding. On the contrary, he was already plotting an act of retaliation against Desmond and Ahmanet with a man that might just be Desmond’s arch-nemesis. The kicker was that the two men had never met before in their lives, unless you were to believe otherwise. This is a dark universe after all and it can bring two together in the most unholiest of ways.

Henry Jekyll said, “So distracted was Des to be that witch’s bitch, he failed to realize of all things, that his own best friend had already passed his seed. He died before he could know his only son, but he spawned a bloodline, one which you are the last of. Due to some unexplainable calamity, both the forefather’s name and unbridled revenge-seeking for his untimely death was passed down generation to generation.”

Jekyll chuckled, “Obviously this must have been one of our mutual friend’s first and only mistakes when he was but a blooming practitioner of occult magick. Only one son was born for every era, but the chain has finally been broken. You are infertile for further inexplicable reasons, so I only have one real answer as to why. Now that Des has finally achieved his goal of reawakening Ahmanet, death has come knocking on his door.”

Jekyll explained, “In the grand scheme of things, our world only has room for one immortal being with arguably equal powers and this is the world’s way of saying he is the lesser man. His time is up. About goddamn time wouldn’t you say? It’s almost ironic enough to be funny if the outcome wasn’t a gruesome one at that. You’re an oversight and that oversight is going to cost that rotten, mummy-craving son of a bitch his life.”

Henry Jekyll concluded, “Sinclair Beaumont. You are the secret descendant of Sin with a vendetta that precedes you and all that came before. So much time, so little knowledge. As such, there’s no way we can really know who this fucker Des truly is, but he’s not the only one who knows how to keep tabs. You’re our trump card and I trust you’ll know what to do with the pretty face from Hell afterwards. If anything, you’re the one person he’ll never have planned for.”

Sinclair Beaumont stood up and smiled a cunning smile, “I’m your guy. Des is going to regret the day he chose a woman over his fellow man. Sin would have followed him to the ends of the earth, if Des hadn’t already betrayed him. The eternity that took him to get where he was is going to feel like a day compared to what I’ll subject him to.” Henry Jekyll asked, “You will eventually kill him, won’t you? The demon too?”

Sin cackled maniacally, “I’m going to mince that fucker up nicely, one cut for every incarnation of Sin. That fucking cunt will be bits of meat when I’m through with him, but I’ll keep Des alive long enough just to smear his worthless guts all over his dead fuck doll. I’m going to destroy everything he has stood for, just as he destroyed my family. Payback is a bitch but it’s not without its reasons. He’s a raper of time, so it’s only right that I fuck him infinitely.”

With that, Sin left Dr. Jekyll’s office as Desmond and Ahmanet boarded a train. The questionaire that seemed to last a lifetime had been discontinued for a time, but Desmond Luc Descartes had no doubt in his mind the subject would be picked up again before their ride came to a stop. Getting out was much easier than getting in, but Sin would do his damnedest to make Desmond’s at-the-moment solid escape plan anything but.

MEANWHILE . . .

And so it continued. Of course I planned for it, but if I hadn’t been alive for so long already, I certainly wouldn’t have lived through the duration of this conversation. Still, there was a special part in my heart for these mind games, even if it kept my life constantly on the line. I would be a fool to have pursued Ahmanet, thinking it for even a spare second to be a safe task.

Ahmanet crossed her legs in the seat across from me and recalled, “I did not hesitate to kill my own newborn brother as he slept. Is that not enough cause to alarm you or give you second thoughts.” I said, “I knew that already.” Ahmanet asked, “Really now?” I answered, “I believe if you want to effectively make a show of power, you have to be completely without mercy. I can respect that.”

Ahmanet said, “You seem to hold my claim to fame in high regards. Does it make you jealous?” As always, I answered from the heart, “It’s true I seek power but only to serve yours in the best possible way.” Ahmanet scoffed, “So do you approve of it?” A half smile crept across my lips and I said, “Let’s just say it’s not something I have second thoughts about.”

Ahmanet wondered, “There is something beyond this lust for power I can’t quite firmly wrap my finger around. If I were not the rightful queen, would you still serve me?” I said, “If that question is intended to undermine me when faced with a new situation, then the answer is no.” I said, “I have experienced neither fault nor shortage in initiative action for many, many years.”

I said, “If you fear a regression to your own mortality, it is an impossible possibility for I will make it not so. I will not double down on my efforts in favor of something beneath you. It should go without saying that I will also have you know that even if you never conceived yourself into a living goddess, you would still be who I think you are now, Ahmanet.”

Ahmanet asked, “And who do you think I am?” I said, “Ahmanet, living goddess.” Ahmanet turned her cheek the other way. Maybe that was too direct. Let’s just say, had anyone else won our company excluding the zombies without a brain cell to call their own, he or she would not nearly be as short-lived as me, as I would surely be the first to die out of the two. That’s the circle of life, hakuna matata. It’s the life I chose, but it hasn’t killed me yet.

I would be lying if I told you I was perfect, but I’m 100% certain it will never come to that. I was not immortal in the way that Ahmanet couldn’t kill me if she wanted to. My powers were, by my own default limited. That was when the train came to a stop, but not before someone boarded the train. Someone familiar. It didn’t matter. He was without a doubt a supernatural being. That too didn’t matter. Only Ahmanet mattered.

Compared to her, he was just another faceless man, so it was a matter I need not lift upon one foot further. I didn’t hesitate when I killed him once. Why should I hesitate a second time? It was essential I not give him that satisfaction. By taking this into account without a second’s delay, the odds were as per usual, in my favor and Ahmanet’s. I said, “We’ve already reached our destination. Go. I’ll handle our guest.”

Still unfamiliar with a guy as outgoing as myself, Ahmanet asked, “You know I can kill him myself. Who is he?” I grinned, “Unfinished business. Don’t worry. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” I didn’t have to tell Ahmanet twice. If I did have to tell her twice, I would be dead before the long-awaited rematch even took place. Lucky for me, I’m such a nice guy. She had every right to be in control of her situation and she was damn decisive on that note.

Ahmanet, my queen, for all the things I would surely kill and kill again. Don’t you know? If you die, I die. You’re the only death I cannot bear. You give meaning to the misery I inflict. I bathe in blood so you can bathe in the sun. I may have named my cult after Set, but it’s really only ever been about you. I don’t care if you want me. I don’t want you to want me. There’s something bigger at store for you than something as simplistic as what I want.

You need me. You’re a beam of white on a sea of red. I’ll never let your light go out, even if it means making any or all lights that are not you go out. If anything, I’ll make your light brighter than it ever has been. I know something you don’t and it’s anything but a simple matter, in the way that it’s never been achieved before. I did not hesitate yesterday and I do not hesitate tomorrow. You’re the audience I crave. When I kill, I only see you, comforting me with your hand against mine on the trigger.

Every time I have taken a life, know this. I kill for you, because you unconsciously will me to. I don’t hold you accountable. I kill for you because I allow you to drive me in that way. As proven now, you would still be powerful without actually having to kill yourself. If it were up to me, I would kill all your enemies for you, so only I can be held accountable.


	8. NOT THE END

Sinclair cornered me into a Mexican standoff in the train car, his weapon simply the element of surprise. I didn’t change facial expression, but Sin wasn’t about to let that bother him. Sin cackled, “You’re probably wondering how I came back. Aren’t ya, Des?” I replied simply, “Not really.” Completely caught off guard, Sinclair asked, “What?! What do you mean? Do you even remember who I am?”

I responded, “Sadly, I do. Frankly, I do not care. You thought I had a caring cell in my body. You thought wrong. You are yet another anomaly that I have grown far too accustomed to. If I did have a caring cell in my body, it would simply be to pity you.” Sin gritted his teeth and growled like a feral beast, “Pity? Me? You’re still the same confusing asshole. Why would you pity me, prick?”

I provided, “You’re probably under the misguided belief that you’re my arch-nemesis, but you’d be mistaken. I didn’t plan for you, because I didn’t need to.” Sin was ready to pounce, but I wasn’t yet through. I was as much a smooth talker as I was a rough one, as I added coldly, “Killing you was easy the first time. Killing you the second will be even easier.” Sin lunged as he screamed, “Fuck you!”

I took out my blade once more. I cut off all the fingers to his left hand and kicked him backwards. He took a hard tumble over the seats. It was the same one I used on him all those years ago. It was symbolic. I flicked the blood dry and marched towards him. I said, “After all these years, my dead friend found his way back to me, only to be killed in the exact same way. I’m sorry Sin. Really, I am. It all plays a familiar chord.”

Sin laughed uncontrollably, “You owe me blood. This blood is only a sample of what you owe me. Now I’m just going to cut you even deeper.” Sin took out a knife of his own with his good hand. We swung at the same time and locked blades. Sin yanked downwards scraping a slab of flesh off the palm of my hand. He kicked me backwards but only letting me travel far enough for him to reach back and grab me.

As I was disoriented by his kick, he pulled me closer, and plunged the knife into my shoulder blade. I kneed him in the balls and felt them convulse in pressure against my shin. In response, he buckled down to catch another kick to his chin. The kick knocked out a tooth and launched him backwards again. Sin coughed up blood, “That was a low blow. Here I thought you fought like a man.” I shot back, “I’ve always answered to a goddess. When have I ever fought like a man?”

Sin laughed, “I knew you were a cunt, but this just takes the cake.” I allowed Sin to help himself to his feet and he said, “You’re letting me stab you, aren’t you? Why?” I answered simply, “I forgot what it felt like.” Sin laughed and waved his hands, “Alright, cut the shit. Come at me with everything.” I replied, “Then you have to as well. Come at me with the intent to kill. Even if it means sacrificing your plans. That’s the only way you might win.”

Sin groaned, “Fuck it. You’ve annoyed me long enough.” We both charged each other and engaged in a succession of slashes and parries that seemed to go on forever. Slab after slab of flesh hit the ground, but we barely cringed, completely caught up in the moment. Blood was pooling copiously out of the two of us and we barely able to stand as we gripped at the handlebars on the train.

I dropped to my knees and punctured his ankle with the blade. I swept my leg out from under me and kicked his Achille’s tendon with savage strength. His ankle bone snapped out sideways, coming into flat contact with the ground. He screamed as the ripple effect in his collapsing leg caused him to faint. I crawled over him and stabbed the knife three times up his leg, four times in his stomach, and two times in his chest.

I moved over the length of his body, suctioned my knife in and out, in and out. I had already won. Sin wasn’t going anywhere now. He tried lifting his arm with the knife and I stabbed the knife through his shoulder blade, before wrenching down, barely stopping before the wrist artery. He kicked me back with his one good leg, but he couldn’t muster the power to bring himself to his feet again.

Sin laughed, “If I’m not your arch-nemesis, who is?” I responded, “Probably someone I haven’t met yet.” Sin groaned, “Oh fuck you. You wouldn’t accept death it was staring at you in the face. Just like I’ll never accept why you chose some bitch over your best friend.” I shot back, “She’s Ahmanet, not some bitch. Call her a bitch again and I’ll pop your balls for real.” Sin laughed, “Wow. Who hurt you?”

I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. “Stop it, Sin. Accept that you can’t kill me and maybe you’ll die knowing your place this time. Maybe I care that much.” Sin screamed, “Fuck you! I’m not accepting shit, asshole.” Sinclair ripped off his vest, exposing a bomb wired to him. I gasped as Sin snarled, “This time when I die, I’m taking you with me. You’re already dead, so just accept it. You’re never going to see Ahmanet again. This is the end you never envisioned. Accept it.”

I calmed myself down from my momentary shock and smiled, “No. I won’t accept it. Ahmanet needs me. That’s enough reason to live.” The bomb was without a doubt, one of the Prodigium’s contingency plans. The Sin I knew was not a suicidal maniac, but I wouldn’t put it past Jekyll to manipulate him into one. There were few people in this world I hated, but I think blame Jekyll the most out of everyone still living for Ahmanet’s continued torture. Maybe Jekyll is my arch-nemesis after all.

Then again, I wasn’t a big fan of Nick Morton after his rejection of Ahmanet. I think it would be treason punishable by my demise instead if I suggested we kill him too. When I suggested we kill Jekyll, it was more of a personal reason than a cautious one. Maybe that was why I let Sin strike such a nerve with me. I made it personal, you didn’t. You’re already more pure than me, but I can’t end it like that and the reason isn’t personal in the slightest. The vessel of Set is still at large and there’s still so much to do. My Queen, I cannot be perfect as you, but I can be the next best thing.

After an overdue pause, Sinclair asked, “If it’s not the end, tell me. Why are you still here talking to me, prick? Do you think I don’t have the balls to pull the trigger after everything you’ve done. The world will be better with you dead.” I concurred, “I know you, Sin. You’ll pull the trigger and I’ll be blasted to oblivion as soon as I turn heel. Still you don’t have what it takes to kill me. You’re blind, because you’re the only person in this world within reason to truly hate me the most.”

I concluded, “Because of this submission, you aren’t a worthy adversary and now you never will be again. If one is to fall to a sacrificial blade more than once, he or she isn’t to return to the land of the living again. Your wounds aren’t going anywhere, whether you pull that trigger or not. The damage is already critical, so you might as well do yourself the favor now and let it be done for the last time, even if it means you still fail. If you wanted it to be simple, you would have kept both eyes open. I have only ever survived because I kept both eyes open and I’ll survive this too.”

Sin gasped, “I want to be the one kill you, but you deserve a fate worse than the one I’ll give you. I accept you can’t die like that now. Why can’t you accept it? Have you not already done enough? Come with me, please. We’re both going to Hell either way. I hate you so much, but I can’t be without you. Why do you persist to make both of our sufferings worse?” I joked, “Even if I truly did wish destruction to myself, they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger and I’m already too strange to be killed. At least in that way, brother.”

It was not a funny joke, that much Sin made clear with the curses that had been made typical of my evolved and former acquaintance. He was never that vulgar when I knew him. Neither was I, but he changed a lot. All within reason of course. I said, “I don’t wish you to suffer anymore than you have to, but you should know better than to expect me to be filled with remorse. You’re the one who doesn’t know when to quit.”

Sin seeped blood out of his Seth copiously and growled, “THIS. IS. THE END.” I dropped to my knees and my eyes left Sin to stare at the ceiling. I replied, “For you. Not for me. Never for me.” Sin trembled as he used up what little life force he had left. Sin fought me still, “FOR YOU. FOR. EVER.” I felt like crying, but not for Sin. That would be too out of character, even with everything I was feeling now. There is only one worthy of my tears, and that is not subject to dispute.

I used to cry myself to sleep. I know what it’s like to cry for Ahmanet, but am I sad for myself? How selfish that would that be for someone who only swore feelings of such intimacy for her. I forgot what crying for myself felt like as well, so maybe it was. No, it had to be something bigger than that. I wanted to know. How I wanted to know. I’m not worthy of you, but I can be. I just needed to know this much so I knew how to avoid another situation like this.

I kept my eyes trained on the ceiling as my tear ducts began to water. My eyes stung with tears I kept hidden from Sin as I told the air, “No. This is not the end.” Finally satisfied and mustering the last of his strength, Sin pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion consumed the two of us. I had just enough time to finish, “It can’t be.” I was reckless. I let an insignificant insect distract me. Never again I swore, whatever that means. Seemingly, my body disintegrated. For the first time in awhile, I felt so unsure of my place.

Ahmanet watched the train explode, one car after the other. Two of the zombies were stupid enough to stand too close the explosion and their legs and arms were blown off and they kicked around on the ground as though to put out the fires eating away at their skin or to bleed themselves even further. The zombies naturally turned to ash before the fires could do it for them. They had suffered long enough, Ahmanet thought.

The explosion perhaps turned Desmond’s soul into debris as well. A flock of crows burst out of the train before it blew up entirely. Ahmanet cocked her head. Those crows had not followed her on the train. Where had they come from? She could not tell if her follower was dead or not. Something felt different as if the first real clue in a larger mystery had momentarily revealed itself.

TO BE CONTINUED, IN “PART 2: THE MUMMY’S RETURN (OF THE VESSEL)” . . .


End file.
